Local Goa News

Sunday, June 12, 2016

NCZMA to re-draw NDA under the CRZ

PANJIM: In what can decide the fate of several thousand of inhabitants and business houses along the State’s shoreline and river banks, the National Coastal Zone Management Authority (NCZMA) has decided to re-draw the No Development Areas (NDA) under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ).
During its crucial meeting held in New Delhi recently, the issue about Goa’s CRZ was discussed threadbare by the NCZMA. Goa government has been told about the authority drafting new CRZ line for coastline and riverbanks.
Sources stated that the CRZ line has already been decided by the central government but details are kept under wraps. The state government has also maintained secrecy on what would be the new line for the coast.
As per the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) recommendations, the existing CRZ is 100 metres for river banks and 200 to 500 metres for the sea shore.
“The existing CRZ line was drawn after scientific study by NIO but now the central authority has taken it on itself to decide this crucial environmental decision of finalising the no development zone,” sources said.
The Union Ministry for Environment and Forest (MoEF) had directed the State to identify beach, backwater, lake and river stretches significant from tourism point of view, which can be considered for relaxation of CRZ limit and furnish details of the latitude and longitude of the starting point and the end point along with the length of the same.
The drawing of new line is likely to create hassles for the people in the CRZ and also the businesses which are operating there. Sources stated that the CRZ line has already been decided by the central government but details are kept under wraps.
Once the new line is drawn, the entire face of State’s coastal development will be changed. The CRZ has been a crucial issue in the coastal belt. It is to be seen whether the new line is going to prove helpful for the current BJP-led government to upgrade its popularity in the election year or face the downhill.